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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Simple past vs. past perfect
Hello,
Could you please tell me which of the following statements is correct?
1) In my last position, my responsibilities increased substantially.
2) In my last position, my responsibilities had increased substantially.
I understand that the past perfect tense is normally used when a sentence involves two past actions which happened one after the other. However, in my mind as the writer, this had happened over a period of time in the past, which was before I resigned from my last position. Without adding "before I resigned..." to #2 above, would you interprete this statement as I have in mind?
As regards #1 above, I am not comfortable using past tense because I think the reader might misinterpret it as something that happened once in an instant and not gradually over a period of time.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Could you please tell me which of the following statements is correct?
1) In my last position, my responsibilities increased substantially.
2) In my last position, my responsibilities had increased substantially.
I understand that the past perfect tense is normally used when a sentence involves two past actions which happened one after the other. However, in my mind as the writer, this had happened over a period of time in the past, which was before I resigned from my last position. Without adding "before I resigned..." to #2 above, would you interprete this statement as I have in mind?
As regards #1 above, I am not comfortable using past tense because I think the reader might misinterpret it as something that happened once in an instant and not gradually over a period of time.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Top answer
Hi, #2 is not natural unless you say what happened after they increased. #1 doesn't imply that it happened all at once, nor that it happened over time. You have to add that information to be clear.
- Hi, #2 is not natural unless you say what happened after they increased.
- #1 doesn't imply that it happened all at once, nor that it happened over time.
- You have to add that information to be clear.
- In my last positions, my responsibilities increased substantially over the course of two years.
- They increased substantially over time.
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5 Answers
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Hi,
#2 is not natural unless you say what happened after they increased.
#1 doesn't imply that it happened all at once, nor that it happened over time. You have to add that information to be clear.
In my last positions, my responsibilities increased substantially over the course of two years. They increased substantially over time. They increased substantially when my
#2 is not natural unless you say what happened after they increased.
#1 doesn't imply that it happened all at once, nor that it happened over time. You have to add that information to be clear.
In my last positions, my responsibilities increased substantially over the course of two years. They increased substantially over time. They increased substantially when my
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Hello,
Thanks so much for your response.
I thought #2 was okay because past perfect is the past form of present perfect which usually implies actions that have happened over time, so I had assumed that past perfect would imply the same idea even without saying the past event that happened after, which was wrong.
Suppose I was asked in an interview to describe my previ
Thanks so much for your response.
I thought #2 was okay because past perfect is the past form of present perfect which usually implies actions that have happened over time, so I had assumed that past perfect would imply the same idea even without saying the past event that happened after, which was wrong.
Suppose I was asked in an interview to describe my previ
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Hi Mark,
Yes, you are right in that B would be the correct choice.
Remember that you need to have another action in the simple past to make the use of the past perfect work.
What led to your resignation?
I had had to step in for my boss, who was away on a six-week medical leave, while at the same time doing my own work. So my duties had increased
Yes, you are right in that B would be the correct choice.
Remember that you need to have another action in the simple past to make the use of the past perfect work.
What led to your resignation?
I had had to step in for my boss, who was away on a six-week medical leave, while at the same time doing my own work. So my duties had increased
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Thanks, Grammar Geek! That makes more sense to me now, especially with your example. 
By the way, I feel sad for the person in you
By the way, I feel sad for the person in you00
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